


Colors of Christmas

by StratusCloudSurfer



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Cliches Galore, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28178361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StratusCloudSurfer/pseuds/StratusCloudSurfer
Summary: A Hallmark inspired namelessshipping Christmas AU.Blue, a successful financial advisor in Lumiose City, returns to his family's struggling ranch for the holidays. Can he and his grandfather's designated successor (Red) find a way to save the ranch before its too late?
Relationships: Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to challenge myself to add a chapter a day until Christmas. Hope you enjoy! Happy Holidays.

Blue rubbed his hands together in an attempt to generate some warmth before tucking them into his pockets. It was freezing outside the Viridian City airport, and he hated the cold. He huffed, letting out a cloud of steam, as he cursed his sister in his mind. He’d tried to tell her that he had no problems catching a cab home, but she’d insisted on meeting him here anyway. 

He was struck by how absolutely nothing about the city seemed to have changed since the last time he had been here, which, at this point, was probably about three years ago. He made it a point to stay away from home as much as he possibly could—it was a long flight from Kalos, after all, and flying was expensive. 

He was about to call Daisy and say screw this, he wasn’t waiting here in the cold when he clearly knew his way home, but just as he was pulling his phone out of his pocket, he caught sight of her driving up in her old red truck, waving excitedly at him as she approached. Blue sighed, half in relief and half in irritation, and dropped the phone back into his pocket. 

She pulled up to the curb, parked, and jumped out of the truck. “Blue!” She cried, throwing her arms around him in an embrace. The sudden impact of her body against his sent the breath flying out of his lungs. “I’m so happy you made it!” 

“Me too,” he lied, forcing his lips into a smile as she pulled away, and looked up at his face. “It’s… good to be back.” 

He didn’t mean it, of course. He didn’t particularly like coming back home. There were too many memories here. Too many bad ones. 

He felt his insides melt a little bit when he saw the way that his sister was smiling up at him, though. There was one thing that he did miss about Kanto, and that was his sister. In fact, she was the only reason why he was back here now—because she’d practically begged him to come home for the holidays. 

He wasn’t sure why this year was so important to her. After all, over the past three years when he’d said he was going to stay in Kalos through the holidays, she hadn’t pressed. But this year… 

“Are you ready?” She asked, breaking through his thoughts. 

He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts out of them. “Oh, uh… yeah,” he replied. “Let’s—“ get this over with, his brain supplied. Out loud, he said, “—get going.” 

And with that, they were on their way back to Pallet Town. 

...

Daisy attempted to make small talk on the way back. She asked him how his new job was going, how he liked it. And, of course, if he was seeing anyone.

He told her that he enjoyed his new job, at a large financial firm in Lumiose City. It was stressful but interesting. He wasn’t sure if finance was exactly his calling, but it paid well, and he liked his chances of advancing within the company.

...And that he was single. 

“Oh?” She asked. “I thought you said that you were seeing someone the last time we talked.”

He grimaced, thinking back to the fight he’d had last week with the guy he’d been dating for all of a month. “Yeah, well, it didn’t work out.” 

“Oh,” she said. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“Don’t be. He was an jerk, anyway.” 

They were just coming up on the gates of the family ranch, the sprawling expanse of land that had been in his family for generations. The farmland stretched for miles and miles, and instantly Blue was hit with the memory of waking up before the dawn every morning to tend to the Tauros and Ponyta they raised here. 

In that moment, he felt some sort of odd nostalgia churn in his stomach. He wasn’t sure he could say he missed this place, but he had spent so much time here as a kid that he couldn’t truthfully claim not to, either. 

This time of the year used to seem so special when they were kids. Every year, he, Daisy, and his grandpa worked together to put up no less than a thousand strands of Christmas lights on the trees in the yard, making them look from a distance like clustered strings of multi-colored stars. Now, though, everything seemed different. Depressing, almost, although that could have had to do with the cloudy, frigid clouds that cloaked the sky and the dead, barren trees. 

Finally, they stopped in front of the house and got out of the truck. Blue was more than ready to drop his bags in his room and finally get out of this dreadful cold, but before he could open the door, Daisy stopped him. 

“Wait,” she said, catching his arm. “Before you go in… there’s something you should know.” 

Blue turned around, scanning her eyes. They looked sad. 

Instantly, a lead weight dropped into his stomach. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what she was about to tell him, but at the same time, he needed to know. 

“What is it, Daisy?” He asked, quietly, as if afraid someone might overhear. 

“Gramps is… well, he’s not doing good,” she admitted. “It might be his last Christmas. Which is why I wanted you to come home.” 

Blue just stood there for a few minutes, unsure how to process the news. It wasn’t exactly as if it were a surprise… his mental condition had especially been deteriorating over the past several years. But this… it just felt so sudden. 

Suddenly, anger swept through him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He demanded. “Don’t you think I had the right to know?” 

“I just didn’t want to upset you,” she said, rubbing his arm in a comforting manner. Her eyes were full of regret. “I thought it would be easier this way.” 

He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. It was hard to do, after a bombshell like that had just been dropped on him. He could see where she was coming from, why she’d kept his grandpa’s condition from him. Besides, it wasn’t as if they’d ever had an easy relationship. He and his grandfather had fought a lot, and hadn’t exactly gotten along. 

But still. This was the man who had raised him and his sister. And getting the news like this, all at once, wasn’t easy. 

“Well,” he managed, “I still wish you would have told me.” 

“I know. I should have. I’m sorry I didn’t.” 

Blue nodded and sucked in a breath, wordlessly accepting her apology. “I guess let’s go inside, then.” 

He turned and opened the door, shoving him and his bags inside. He immediately noticed his grandpa sitting in a recliner in the living room along with… someone else.

Blue’s mouth fell open in shock. He looked so different. So… grown up. But he guessed that wasn’t too surprising, given how long it had been since he’d seen him. 

“Red?” He asked, letting his name breathlessly fall out of his mouth. He couldn’t fathom it; why his childhood friend was sitting in his living room. 

“Oh, yeah!” interjected Daisy. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you.” 

She grabbed him by the arm and tugged down, so that she could whisper in his ear. 

“Gramps is giving up the ranch… And giving it to him.”


	2. Chapter 2

_ You’ve got to be kidding me. _

That was what he wanted to say, and actually had to bite his tongue not to. Now wasn’t the time to express how horrified he was at the prospect of Red taking control of their family’s ranch. Especially not when he was sitting in their living room, across from his grandpa, who now seemed to notice he had walked through the door, and smiled broadly. 

“Ah! My grandson! You’re home!” he said brightly. Then a confused look swept over his features, and he turned to Red. “Erm… what was his name again?” 

“Blue,” Red answered, looking directly at him. His eyes locked on his for a second, and Blue wondered if they had always been that dark of a brown color, like coffee without any creamer. “It’s... been a while.” 

_ Yeah, _ Blue thought,  _ that’s the understatement of the year… _

“Ah, I remember now! His name is Blue!” echoed his grandfather, the big smile now returned. “I’m so happy you’re home.” 

Despite everything, he seemed to genuinely mean it. A lump formed in Blue’s throat. He tried, and failed, to swallow it. 

Suddenly, he wanted to walk out and take a couple minutes to himself. He’d already prepared himself for this visit to be difficult, but this was almost overwhelming… and he hadn’t even been home five minutes! Maybe if Daisy had prepared him at least in some form, he might have been more comfortable, but she hadn’t. He resolved to have a long talk with her after this. 

But now, he forced himself to smile again, and tried to inject as much brightness into his voice as possible. “It’s good to see you too, Gramps,” he said. “But I’m sure you didn’t miss me too much.” 

He dropped his bags unceremoniously on the floor and went over to give him a quick hug. His grandfather responded by patting his back a few times before Blue started to feel choked up again and had to step away. He glanced around the living room as if looking for some sort of direction, and found that his eyes landed on Red again. He simply stared back at him with the most unhelpful, unreadable expression, which only succeeded in making him feel frustrated, so he diverted his eyes to Daisy instead.

“So… um…” Daisy ventured, after a brief gap of awkward silence, “I… think I’m going to make some hot chocolate! Blue, do you want to get settled?” 

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea,” Blue replied, letting out a breath from his lungs that he hadn’t realized he had been holding on to. He quickly snatched up his bags and practically ran to his room. 

...

For a while, Blue laid back on his bed, kneading his forehead with his fingers. He went back and forth between lamenting ever getting on the plane to come back to Kanto and feeling immensely guilty for ever thinking such a thing. The whole situation felt so surreal that he questioned whether he was dreaming or awake, but a quick pinch on his arm confirmed that this was reality. 

What both confused and infuriated him the most was the inexplicable presence of Red. They had, of course, known each other since they were kids, and his mother was close friends with his grandfather. They used to play together all the time when they were little, and Red came over so often that he was practically integrated into their family. This also meant that he was integrated into he and his sister’s cycle of chores and tasks required to keep up the ranch. 

The only thing was that Red was good at being a ranch hand--really good. Better than Blue was at it... by a long shot. His grandfather seemed to favor Red over him, which caused him to feel resentful, and was probably why he hadn’t gotten along so well with his grandfather through his teenage years. He was also, perhaps, a teensy bit jealous of Red himself. Whatever the case, as he got older, he stopped hanging out with Red. A rift grew between them that at some point became impassable. They weren’t on speaking terms when he went off to college to try and find something that he was actually good at--because clearly, it wasn’t ranch work. 

He’d found that in finance. Well… sort of. He was good at it, sure. Maybe one of the best new hires that the company he worked for had. But was it what he wanted to do for the rest of his life? He wasn’t so sure about that. 

An electronic chime broke him out of his reverie. He had a message. Sighing, Blue pulled his phone out of his pocket to check what it was. 

A text from his boss. ‘Blue, are you available to meet with a client tomorrow?’ 

Irritated, he quickly typed back, ‘I’m on vacation, asshole.’ 

His thumb stopped just short of the ‘send’ button. He re-read the message, removed the last word, then pressed it. 

He was annoyed that his boss never seemed to remember what days he requested off, but grateful for the distraction. Deciding that he’d been in his room for long enough, he got up and went to go check on Daisy and the hot chocolate. 

When he walked back into the living room, he was surprised by how quiet it was. He scanned the area, and noticed that Red had vanished, and his grandpa was fast asleep in the recliner, softly snoring. He tip-toed past him and into the kitchen, where Daisy was stirring a pot on the stove. 

“Did Red go home?” he asked. 

“No. He went to get some firewood, so that we can have a fire tonight.” 

Blue narrowed his eyes distrustfully. “So, what, does he live here now?” 

Daisy’s eyes cut over to him, and he could tell that she was a little miffed by the comment. “No,” she replied, curtly. “He’s just been helping me take care of Gramps, that’s all.” 

Blue crossed his arms over his chest, undeterred. “So, when were you going to tell me about the ranch?” 

She huffed, her mild annoyance morphed into full-blown irritation. “I don’t know why it matters to you,” she said. “I mean, it's no secret that you don’t like this place.” 

She had a point. He had made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to spend his life living and working on the ranch. It was why he’d gone all the way to another region to go to school and start a career, after all. 

Logically, the future of the family ranch shouldn’t have mattered to him at all. But, for some reason, the news that Red was taking over really, really bothered him. What he couldn’t put a finger on was why. 

“Besides,” Daisy continued, more calmly, “He’s a good fit for the job. Gramps seems to think that he’ll be able to fix our financial problems.” 

The last sentence made something in his chest freeze. “Wait…  _ What  _ financial problems?”

She glanced up to him, surprised, as if noticing him for the first time. “O-oh,” she stammered. “I guess there is  _ one _ more thing I need to tell you…” 

Blue threw his hands up, exasperated. “So you’re telling me that the last ‘one more thing’ wasn’t it?” 

“No, sorry,” she said, shaking her head apologetically. “The thing is… we’re in a pretty good amount of debt. With Gramps’ condition, you know, it’s been hard, and…” 

“Stop right there,” Blue said, holding up a hand. “How much is ‘a pretty good amount?’”

“Well,” she said, pursing her lips. She stared at him, conflicted, for a few seconds, before she sighed and admitted, “About 40,000 dollars. In medical bills.” 

Blue felt his face drain of all of the blood that was in it. He found the nearest chair at the kitchen table and plopped down in it. 

Daisy glanced over at him worriedly. “You good?” she asked, tentatively. 

“Yeah… I’m…” Blue shook his head, and willfully ignored the churning of his stomach. “I just… Why didn’t you ask me for help? I’m a financial advisor. It’s literally my _job_ to keep people out of debt. Why did you ask the guy who hasn’t taken a finance class ever in his life to fix your problems?” 

Just then, the front door opened, and Red walked back in with an armful of firewood. He made eye contact from across the room, but visibly winced and quickly looked away when he saw Blue’s expression, which must have conveyed exactly how he felt about the whole situation that Daisy had just described. He retreated to the fireplace, turning his back towards him. 

And just like that, Blue was done for tonight. He stood up abruptly and announced, “I’m going to bed,” before stomping out of the kitchen, Daisy’s protests hot on his heels. 


	3. Chapter 3

Blue was too angry to sleep very well that night. He tossed and turned restlessly around for a couple of hours before falling into a fitful slumber that was interrupted by the loud crowing of a male Combusken somewhere on the property. He groaned, rubbing his forehead, and checked the time on his phone. It wasn’t even 6 am yet. 

Given that he felt as if he’d just managed to get some sleep, he attempted to close his eyes and get some more rest. Two more hours seemed reasonable. 

It wasn’t long before he figured out that was going to be impossible. Several more loud crows joined the first, rising into a cacophony of shrill, urgent noises, akin to several alarm clocks going off simultaneously. 

Sighing, he decided that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep. He drug himself out of bed and turned on the lamp on his nightstand. He was still feeling tense and restless, and thought that maybe a morning walk might help his mood. He desperately wanted to burn off some of the frustration that was still broiling inside of him; he didn’t want to spend this entire holiday angry, after all. 

He could tell from how cold the chilled air in his room was that it was going to be extremely cold outside, and dug in his bag of clothes until he found a warm, fluffy jacket and a scarf. He donned both articles of clothing and his shoes, then left his room, descending the creaky old stairs as quietly as he possibly could. 

He opened the front door and stepped outside, pausing on the front porch to take in the landscape in front of him. Everything in sight was covered in a layer of unmarred, perfectly white snow. It practically glowed in the darkness of the morning, sparkling here and there as if flecked with diamonds. 

_ Great _ , Blue thought.  _ As if this trip couldn’t get any better already _ . 

Since he hated the cold, it would follow that snow was not one of his favorite things. It was pretty, sure--but he knew that it was just waiting to seep through his shoes and start melting into his socks. 

He debated whether he should just go back inside and curl up under the blankets again, but the churning of his stomach stopped him. He really, really needed to move around, so that was what he was going to do. Wet socks be damned; he’d brought plenty of extras with him. 

And so he set off on a trek around the ranch. Perhaps instinctively, he was drawn to the stables, where they kept the Ponyta and Rapidash. He used to get up around this time every morning, to feed them. Maybe he would just go ahead and do that. 

He entered the stables, shutting the door quietly behind him. It was dark inside, but the flickering of the fire horses’ manes reflected off of the walls, making the entire area look like it was bathed in candlelight. It induced what was nearly a romantic effect, the atmosphere not unlike that of a dinner date at a high-end restaurant in the city… except, of course, it smelled like horses in here. 

One Rapidash craned its neck out of its stall, curiously inspecting their early-morning visitor. When she saw him standing there, she neighed happily, shaking her head. Blue smiled in recognition, and immediately walked over to her. 

“Flicker, I can’t believe it! You’re so grown up!” he exclaimed, reaching out to run his fingers through her fiery mane. She lowered her head so that he could do so. The fire, of course, didn’t burn him--it merely tickled. “When did you evolve?” 

“A couple months ago,” someone answered. 

Blue jumped nearly out of his skin in surprise. Turning back towards the door, he noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore. When he saw who his company was, his mood instantly soured. 

“Red? What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice contemptuous, although he hadn’t meant it to sound that way. 

“Feeding the Pokemon. You know. My job,” he muttered back, frowning. He leaned against the wall, regarding him impassively. “I’m surprised you’re up so early.” 

Blue faced him, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, well, I had trouble sleeping last night.” 

Red raised an eyebrow. “Is it the quiet that’s bothering you?” 

“No, not particularly,” Blue answered, doing his best to sound innocent. “I think it’s something else.” 

He glared at him, pointedly, trying to imply through his gaze that Red was the ‘something else’ he was referring to. 

Red squinted at him. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” he drawled, warily. 

Blue felt a hot spark of anger light in his stomach. Without thinking, he balled his fists and marched right up to him, getting in his face. 

“Look, I’m going to be frank with you. I don’t understand why Gramps chose you to take over the ranch, and I’m not going to pretend to like it, either. But that doesn’t really matter, not anymore. What does is that you need to have a plan to get this place out of debt, and  _ I _ need to know what it is.” 

Having spent a considerable amount of time working with very wealthy but very financially irresponsible or otherwise ignorant clients, Blue could spot when people were about to start lying about how supposedly financially savvy they were. The same familiar cues spread across Red’s face in front of him.

Red’s eyes rolled to the ceiling in an exasperated fashion as if the question were utterly ridiculous. Who was Blue to come back to the ranch Red had worked on for several years at this point and question his knowledge? He’d only been in town for a day and now he acted like he owned the place. 

Somehow Red’s expression seemed to convey that sentiment to Blue, through his eyes, the way he crossed his arms in a haughty flash. He bunched up the muscles of his arms under the long sleeve flannel shirt he wore, straining the plaid pattern. He didn’t look at Blue for several seconds either, which was yet another tell in of itself.

The real giveaway was what happened when he got over Blue’s apparent audacity and looked back at him. Red hesitated before doing so, and his brow furrowed a little as he looked towards one of the empty stables. 

Then he seemed to compose his features into a hard, displeased expression and regarded Blue like a pile of trash he needed to scoop up.

“It’s obvious,” Red practically spat. “We just need to cut some expenses so we can afford to pay off the medical bills for Gramps. The hospital has agreed to let us pay minimum installments with zero interest.”

Blue slowly shook his head. Anger made his heart pound, and rasped out in his voice. “You have no idea how to fix it, do you.” It was a statement, not a question. 

Red’s eyes went wider with a burning flash. “I just told you how I am going to do it! How much more do you need?!”

“You didn’t tell me anything!" Blue snapped back. “What expenses in particular are you going to cut? What about property and sales taxes? What, if any, investments have you put out in the past that could be cashed out to pay the lump sum now, while the debt is interest free? It’s not like they’ll let it stay interest free for more than 6 months, you know.” 

Red looked bewildered for about half a second of honest expression before he fixed his face again. Blue could tell immediately that he had absolutely no clue what any of that meant, or how to answer any of those questions. 

So instead, he obstinately replied, “Why does it matter to you? Last time I checked, you didn’t care about this place at all.” 

“A better question is why you aren’t answering me,” Blue said. “Because avoiding the question makes me think you have no clue what you are doing here.” The tone of his voice made the temperature in the already snowy barn drop well below zero, especially as the steam hissed from Blue’s lips.

“Well, why aren’t you answering mine?!” Red shot back, slicing like a razor blade. “It seems awfully suspicious to me that you suddenly want to help this place after years of not giving a crap about it.”

“I asked my question first, and this is my family, not yours,” Blue retorted. “Now, with that settled, how about you answer me? Give me some details.”

“Fine. Here’s a detail for you. I know what I’m doing, I don’t need or want you help, and frankly, I don’t understand why you even came back.”

With a swish of his boots on the hay and dirt covered floor, Red started to walk away, but Blue called after him, “I’m not going to stand by and let you ruin this place, Red. You think you have it all figured out and can handle it all by yourself, but it’s really obvious you can’t. So I don’t care what you  _ think _ you’re going to do to save this place, because I am going to help you do it, whether you like it or not, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

He didn’t need to turn around to see Red had stopped and stared back at him. He could feel Red’s burning gaze on his back as he stomped into the snow back towards the ranch house.


	4. Chapter 4

It took Blue a while to find the financial records for the ranch. Mostly, because he had to search for them himself. He wasn’t going to ask Red again, and he’d asked his grandpa, but he didn’t recall where he’d put them, which wasn’t surprising considering he couldn’t even remember Blue’s own name. Daisy told him that they were probably in his office, but she didn’t exactly know where. 

So he ended up having to search through each and every drawer himself. Finally, after about an hour of digging through old papers, he found them. He spread them out over the big wooden desk and plopped down in the chair to analyze them. 

It didn’t take him very long to discover what the issue was. Evidently, they’d been making losses for the past couple years, their expenses being too great for the profit they were making to cover it, they weren’t claiming losses for taxes, and they seemed to be selling too short for their profit margin.

Thankfully, it was something that he immediately had ideas for how to fix. He thought that the best place to start would be to cut the astronomical value of expenses, and when he finally found a box of what receipts that revealed what exactly they were spending so much money on, he studied them for a long time, muttering under his breath and jotting down notes for himself. 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there before there was a knock at the door, and he looked up to see Daisy standing in the threshold. 

“Blue?” she asked. “Are you hungry?” 

He was going to say that he wasn’t, but as soon as the question was out of her mouth, his stomach growled. He glanced at the time on his watch, and was shocked to find that it was late afternoon. 

“I just finished making dinner. Do you want to join us?” 

“That depends,” Blue grumbled. “Is Red included in that ‘us?’” 

Annoyance flashed in his sister’s eyes. “No, he’s not back yet,” she said. “Although I don’t understand why it matters whether he is there or not. Red is a wonderful guy, and he’s helped us out in more ways than I can count over the past few years.” 

“Sorry, Daisy. I don’t like him, and he doesn’t like me. That’s just the way it is.”

“Well, you could at least try to be nice,” she insisted. “..And perhaps act like an adult, which you supposedly are.” 

“Yeah? Well, so could he!” Blue shot back. 

“Whatever. I’m not going to argue with you about this. Do you want some food or not?” 

Blue sighed and got up. “Yeah. Let’s eat.” 

He followed Daisy to the kitchen, where his grandpa was already seated at the table. Daisy had cooked up what looked like an amazing dish--steak, potatoes, and salad. His mouth started to water immediately when he saw it. He hadn’t been aware of how much of an appetite he’d worked up while poring over documents all day, although his anger could have also played a role in suppressing his hunger. 

He ignored his grandpa as he asked again, for maybe the fourth time today, who Blue was and took a seat. Maybe, he thought, he should start coming up with a different name for every time he asked. Go through the entire color wheel, perhaps. 

He tried to be as patient as possible, reminding himself over and over again what Daisy had told him.  _ This could be his last Christmas. _ He focused on eating his food, and running numbers in his head, still exploring options for cutting down costs even as he wasn’t actively looking at the spreadsheets.

Well, the ranch had basically a pile of receipts rather than any real financial documents. So Blue had to compile a spreadsheet on his own.

When dinner was over, he cleaned off his plate and threw it in the dishwasher. He intended to go right back to the office, but then he caught sight of a figure moving around in the darkness outside through the glass panes of the kitchen window. He realized that it must have been Red. It looked like he was carrying a box of something towards the big barn they had on their property. 

The last thing he wanted to do was talk to him, especially after this morning. That being said, he wanted to tackle this little problem they had as quickly as possible, and he already had a few ideas on where to start. Which, unfortunately, he had to run by Red. 

So instead, he threw on his jacket and went back outside. 

…

A few minutes later, he pushed open the door to the barn and let himself in. “Red,” he began, “I need to talk to you about--” 

He stopped in his tracks when he noticed what he was doing. Which was pulling lights out of what seemed to be a giant box of Christmas decorations. The entire thing struck him as utterly ridiculous… until he realized Christmas was only a few days away. 

Red seemed a little irritated that Blue joined him, but seemed to resign himself to dealing with him. He let out a big sigh of steam as he toiled to uncoil the very badly tangled ball of lights, painstakingly trying to check each bulb for cracks or other problems.

“What, Blue?”

Blue felt a little put off for a second. He couldn’t believe he not only forgot about Christmas, but also didn’t piece together that it was that time of year despite passing numerous adorned houses along their road to get here.

Shaking his head, he bent down and started to uncoil another Rattata’s nest of neon green lights.

“What are you doing?” Red huffed. “I’ve got this handled.”

Blue, exasperated, held up the ball. “Are you really going to pretend you want to untangle this all on your own?” 

Red shrugged. “Someone has to. But please tell me this isn’t why you came out here. I know you hate the cold and me, so…”

“Of course not,” Blue yanked another knot out of the strand. “I wanted to talk finance. If you’re willing to listen, that is.” 

Red sighed again. “Whatever, Blue. Go ahead.”

Blue felt a little surprised he didn’t fight him about it, but didn’t let that stop him. Maybe, he thought, he’d finally come to his senses. He took a deep breath in and launched right in. “Okay, so the jist of it is this. Gramps still has great cash flow from his patents on the Pokedex and pokeballs he developed years ago, but you guys haven’t continued to tally up and claim losses on the taxes every year for the ranch like I used to. Every time something breaks around here you’ve just shelled out the money to fix it, but you haven’t filed for some assistance from the government for that, even though this place is a business.”

Red frowned, looking confused. “I didn’t want to mess with the tax stuff. I just filed it the same way you did before you left and didn’t change anything.”

“That’s the problem, Red,” Blue urged him. “The ranch has nearly $230,000 in losses over the past several years. The government will not only refund you that money but it will also add some incentives to help the business, since the Tauros and Ponyta we raise and sell serve the Pallet Town Community.”

Red stopped messing with the lights and blinked several times. “Wait, so you mean... we could get all of that money back?”

“Yes!" Blue exclaimed, "But we need to get all of the receipts together for all the things you bought. Every time you bought a part to fix the tractor, every fence panel used to repair a section that a tree fell on, any feed you bought because it froze and killed all the grass they normally graze on. I have a good amount of it accounted for already, but a lot of it is wherever you put it. We need to find all of it together.”

Red’s expression twisted, becoming troubled. “And… what if we don’t have them?”

Now it was Blue’s turn to blink. “What do you mean? You kept all of the receipts, right?” 

“Of course I didn’t! I didn’t know I needed to keep them!”

Blue thought for a second. “Wait, how did you pay for everything?”

“I used that credit card you took out for the ranch.”

“Have you been keeping the monthly statements they sent to you? Are you up to date on the payments?”

Red thought for a moment. “Yes...I just don’t know exactly where they all are. Somewhere in the house, for sure, and I did keep them all. But right now the credit card has a really big balance on it and I have just been paying the minimum amount each month because we can’t afford otherwise.”

Blue took in a deep breath in and out through his nose. “What’s the balance?” 

“About $140,000, give or take,” Red said. “And before you get mad, just realize, I did what I had to, okay? I cashed the checks for Gramps' patents and social security to pay the minimum bill on the credit card and used the card to cover anything over our monthly cash flow from sales. It’s steadily been going up. Then when Gramps fell and he started to forget who people were… well, we had a lot of doctor bills to pay in full because he never got any insurance.”

Blue tried, really hard, to not get mad. Still, he found himself feeling anger heat up within him again. He reasoned with himself, telling himself that Red was probably telling the truth, that there was nothing more he could do. 

At least he was doing that. Telling the truth, that was.

“Okay,” he said finally, managing to keep his voice even. “I believe you.” 

Then Red surprised him by suddenly looking very worried. “Is this… I mean, Blue… can you fix this?”

Blue studied him for a few moments, surprised by the vulnerability on his face. He couldn’t believe that Red was asking him. He would have thought that he was too stubborn to admit that he needed his help, but evidently, he cared more about the ranch than about his pride. 

It was refreshing… and made him hate him a little less. 

“Yes, I can fix it. But to do it I need every single credit card statement and you and I both need to sit down to read them to determine what can be claimed as losses. We need to write down what broke, what you bought to fix it, and what it is used for. When the taxes come back and we get that loss money back, we’ll use it to pay off all of Gramps’ medical bills in one go then throw the rest of it to cut down the credit card debt, starting by paying off the ones with the smallest balance first. After that, we need to look at your monthly expenses and see what is costing so much money every month.”

A look of amazement spread over Red’s features. “Wait, its... really that easy?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it easy, but that’s the game plan. It’ll be tough for you because you need to remember a lot of things you swiped those credit cards for.”

Red nodded, suddenly seeming very eager. “I can do that. When do you want to start?”

Blue thought for a bit. “How about after we get these lights untangled?”

Red actually smiled a little as he almost whispered, “Okay...sounds good.”

Blue found himself smiling back before he could catch himself. For the first time since he’d come back home, he actually felt happy to be here, although he couldn’t quite put a finger on why. It certainly wasn’t because he’d just made a massive amount of work for himself to do while he was supposed to be on vacation. Or because he was thrilled at the prospect of working with Red’s incredibly stubborn ass. 

Nevertheless, a warmth spread through his chest, and the entire world seemed a little brighter all of a sudden.

They fell into silence as they both worked on their individual ball of lights. Weirdly, the methodical, repetitive task didn’t bore him, or make him feel irritated. There was something nice about being able to unravel such a complex mess, to make something that once seemed overwhelming into something more manageable. 


	5. Chapter 5

After all of the lights were finally untangled, Blue convinced Red to come inside. He managed to locate where all the credit card statements were in the office, which allowed Blue to get to work going through all of them. While he started scanning through them, Red excused himself to eat dinner. 

Blue continued working well into the night, methodically highlighting the statements to find each and every thing that he could use. It was slow work, and there were a lot of statements. At some point, he must have fallen asleep, but he didn’t remember exactly when. 

He jerked awake the next morning when someone put a hand on his shoulder. “Ughhghh…” he groaned, intelligibly, as he lifted his head from the hard wooden surface. “What’s going on?” 

He glanced back, expecting to see Daisy. But it wasn’t Daisy who had woken him. 

“Good morning,” Red mumbled, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I… thought you might want some breakfast.” 

Blue noticed for the first time the plate that was sitting in front of him, stacked high with pancakes, bacon, and eggs, and the steaming coffee cup that was sitting next to it. His mouth started to water at the sight, and his stomach twisted with hunger. 

“Oh, wow,” Blue remarked. He rubbed his forehead, which felt a little sore, probably from using such a hard surface as a pillow. “This is great. Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Red replied. He cleared his throat. “Um… have you made any progress?” 

Blue yawned hugely before he spoke again. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I made a lot of progress. Found lots of things that we can claim.”

Red nodded, and Blue peeked up to look at his eyes. Gone was the hardness in them from yesterday, and they actually looked lighter, almost a golden brown. He let out a breath, and his entire body sagged with relief. 

“About yesterday…” he began, with difficulty. Seeming to decide that looking directly at him was too hard, Red let his eyes skirt away. “I wanted to say… I’m sorry.” 

Blue couldn’t help it. He let his mouth drop open in complete shock. No way was Red actually thanking him. 

Red snuck a glance at him and immediately looked away. “I’m actually… really grateful for your help.” 

“O-oh,” Blue stammered, feeling his own face go hot. “Well… you’re welcome.” 

“You’re doing a good thing, and I’m going to try and help you from now on.”

Feeling as if he might combust into flames if he heard anymore, Blue  stabbed a pancake with his fork and shoved it into his mouth . It was probably the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted, although that probably could have been because he was hungry and because he had slept in this office last night. 

  
  


“This morning something else broke so… I guess we can start to record things easier now, huh?” Red said casually, despite seeming a bit awkward. It was obvious he wasn’t sure exactly how to act now that they supposedly got over their differences, and it showed in the way he leaned against the wall across the room and crossed his arms. He sort of stumbled as he did it and tried to act like he didn’t, prompting Blue to detect a thin line of a blush spread across his cheeks.

“What broke?” Blue asked, ignoring his original question and taking a bite out of a bacon strip. It wasn’t even seven in the morning and something was already broken? What the hell had Red been working on this morning?

“Well...that rusted up old 30 foot hay trailer snapped. One side of the frame sheared loose and it’s too corroded to be welded back together with a donor piece of metal. I think we’re going to have to get the axles removed and sell the rest for scrap metal, but we need to buy a new trailer today.”

It was really weird to Blue, how Red was suddenly referring to the two of them as ‘we.’ Like they had been working together for years, or he was his manager or something. He shifted a bit in his seat, uncomfortable, suddenly certain that he should be talking to someone else. But no one else was here but him.

“Today?” Blue pressed. “Isn’t there some temporary fix? I’d really rather not deal with any major purchases until I get some semblance of a handle on this situation,” he said, holding up the nearest statement and showing it to Red. 

Some sort of emotion flashed through Red’s eyes, one that Blue couldn’t exactly place. As soon as it was there, it was gone, and his face smoothed into a completely serious mask. Blue watched as breath subtly made his chest rise, and he stood up straight, facing him. 

“No. We need it for the Christmas Ride.” 

Blue felt his face screw up in confusion. “The what?” 

A bit of irritation slipped back into Red’s tone. “Don’t you remember? We do this every year.” 

At first Blue wanted to insist that he had no clue what he was referring to, until his memory finally kicked in and reminded him that he did, in fact, know what Red was talking about. There was a long, winding gravel road that ran along the outskirts of the ranch, a long portion of it lined on either side with live oaks. Every year, he, Daisy, and Gramps used to spend hours putting up an absolutely absurd amount of Christmas lights, inflatables, and other festive displays along the road. Two days before Christmas, his grandpa would load the trailer with hay, hook it to the tractor, and take the town kids on a ride to see the lights. 

Blue wondered for a second if he had hit his head last night on the desk when he passed out. It was the only explanation for how he could possibly forget about the Christmas Ride. He rubbed his forehead, worrying that he was going to start forgetting people’s names, too. 

“Oh,” he said slowly. “That’s today?” 

“It  _ is _ the 23rd, Blue,” Red insisted. 

“Great,” Blue sighed. “Well, I guess we are going trailer shopping.” 

Red raised his eyebrows, presumably at the word ‘we’. “You know, I can probably handle it on my own, if you need to work on this.” 

“Nah, I need to take a break, anyway,” Blue replied, taking another bite of his breakfast. 

Red’s features twisted with uncertainty, and for a moment Blue thought that he was going to insist that he go alone. A debate seemed to play out in his mind as he stared at him, but after a few seconds he seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion. 

“Alright,” he said finally. “I’ll let you finish breakfast and get dressed. Then we’ll go.” 

With that, he turned and left the room, leaving Blue to finish his breakfast in silence. 

…

Blue ate, showered, and got dressed in a new set of clothes. The sun was just starting to rise when he met Red outside, and they jumped in the truck together. Blue found it exceptionally gracious that he had pre-heated the truck, so it was warm and toasty as soon as he closed the door. He melted back into the worn leather seat, sighing contentedly. 

Red noticed his reaction and chuckled as he put the truck in drive, prompting Blue to shoot a glare at him. “Sorry,” he apologized. “You just looked like you stepped into a hot tub.” 

“Shut up,” Blue said. “You know I don’t like the cold.” 

“Yeah. I know. That’s why I made sure the truck was warm before you got in it. You know, lessen my chances of you killing me today.” 

It was Blue’s turn to laugh. He couldn’t help it. Something about that string of words coming out of Red’s mouth was extremely funny. 

“Just don’t break anything else, and you won’t have to worry about it,” Blue replied with a grin. 

Red smiled crookedly back. “I’ll try my best.” 

The closest place they could buy a trailer was a farm equipment store on the outskirts of Viridian City. The drive was mostly quiet, as Blue suspected it would be. He assumed it was because neither one of them knew what to say to each other. 

Halfway there, Blue’s phone started buzzing with an incoming phone call. Thinking it might be Daisy wondering where the two of them were, he pulled it out. It was his boss calling. 

The last thing he wanted to do on his day off was talk to his boss, who was probably going to ask him if he could do something for him, even though he’d already made it clear that he was on vacation. So he just held it in his hand, waiting for the buzzing to stop and for the call to go to voicemail. 

Red glanced over surreptitiously. “Who was that?” he asked. 

“My boss,” Blue muttered. 

“Don’t you think you should answer him?”

“No. I’ve already made it clear that I’m on vacation. He just doesn’t seem to get the message.” 

“Sounds like he just doesn’t want to,” Red replied, and the two lapsed into silence again. 

Finally, they pulled up into the parking lot. Red put the truck in park and they both got out. Just when they were about to walk through the door, Red turned around, opening his mouth like he was about to say something. He was interrupted by Blue’s phone going off again. 

Blue groaned when he saw his boss’s name on the screen for a second time. “He’s not going to give up until I answer,” he said hotly. “Sorry. I’m going to have to take this. Go ahead. I’ll catch up to you.” 

Red frowned, looking briefly as if he were disappointed, for whatever reason. Grudgingly, though, he agreed and went inside. 

As soon as he’d disappeared, Blue took a deep breath, stifled his anger, and pressed ‘accept.’ 

“Hi, John!” he greeted, pasting a fake smile on his lips, which he tried to project into his voice. “How are you doing?” 

There was a surprised pause for a time, in which Blue figured that his boss was trying to process that he wasn’t talking to a voicemail machine. He could practically imagine him sitting there, in his corner office, with his tux undone and his shoes up on the desk, where he usually was when he called people. 

“Good morning, Blue!” he finally responded, as bright as a Michael Buble song. “I’m doing fine, and how are you? Well, I hope?” 

“Could be better,” Blue said mildly.  _...If you stopped bothering me,  _ he added in his mind. 

“Oh, well, I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Blue replied. “Did… you need something, or…?” 

“Ah, yes. Could you remind me when you are going to be back in the office?” 

“I should be back on the 2nd, like my leave request says,” Blue said, trying to sound as innocent--and not annoyed--as possible.  _ You know, the one you signed off on?  _ “Why?” 

“Well… I was going to ask…” 

Blue pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to suppress a sigh. 

“...Can you possibly be back a few days sooner?” 

“I don’t think so, John.” Blue said. “I sort of have a… family crisis that I need to handle here.” 

“Oh? Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Or it will be,” Blue reassured him. “I’m just going to need all of the time I requested off.” 

“Ah. Well, I understand. Let me know if you change your mind,” John said. 

“I definitely will do that,” Blue said. 

He politely said goodbye, happy holidays, and hung up as quickly as possible. 

He quickly tracked down Red standing in front of two trailers that looked almost exactly identical, staring them down critically, as if they might hold the answer to the purpose of life. His eyes flitted back and forth between the two, staying on each a few seconds before landing on the other. 

It occurred to Blue suddenly that Red was incredibly handsome. He was wearing a long-sleeve flannel jacket, but it was evident that he hid toned muscle underneath it. The way that his brown hair stuck out from his ball-cap was endearing. Not to mention how tall he was… when had he gotten taller than him, anyway? 

He felt his face heating up as he watched him stare intensely at the two trailers. Something akin to butterflies fluttered in his stomach. It was stupid, he knew, but that didn’t stop him from feeling it. 

Quickly, he shook his head, trying to clear out his jumbled thoughts. No way was he going to let himself fall for the guy that had hated him up until this morning. He just couldn’t. 

“I think we should go with this one,” Blue said as he stepped up, pointing to the one with the cheaper price tag. 

Red glanced over to him, surprised. Obviously, he hadn’t expected him to join him so quickly. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “Do you think it’s long enough?” 

Blue shrugged. “It might be a bit on the small size… but it’ll serve its purpose.” 

Red considered it for a few moments with his hands on his hips, then nodded, slowly. Wordlessly, he headed off to find a sales rep to finalize the purchase. 


	6. Chapter 6

“It is sooooo cold!” Blue griped, his worn old boots crunching in the snow. He shivered, and his teeth chattered together. “Why the hell does is always have to be nearly 20 degrees when we do this? Like, would a warm day be so much to ask for?! It’s a wonder any of the kids want to come out here to ride in the first place!”

Red let out a plume of steamy breath as he threw the old dually truck in park, keeping the diesel engine chugging at an idle so the cab would stay warm when they stopped again. 

“You didn’t have to help me, you know,” He said, stepping out into the howling powder filled wind.

“I know. You’ve only told me like, twenty times.” Blue rebutted. 

“Then why are you out here?” asked Red.

Blue huffed and tossed a recently tangled strand of lights he’d been trying to retrieve from the bed of the truck into the snow, too irritated to deal with them. He fished around inside for a new bundle that wasn’t so tangled and made his way to the lamp posts along the gravel road.

“I don’t know,” he answered, honestly. “Maybe I just enjoy torturing myself.” 

Red gave him a weird look, opened his mouth for a second like he was about to respond, then seemed to think better of it and closed it. 

“I wouldn’t even be out here if it wasn’t completely obvious that you needed my help,” Blue insisted. “I mean, you did wait until the very last minute to do this.” 

Red laughed, as if he had just told a hilarious joke. 

Just to prove his point, Blue held up the bundle Red almost dropped not even a second after he spoke, preventing the massive coil from falling into a sprawling mess more resembling of a Tangela than the Candy Canes they were turning the street lamps into. 

“You were saying?” Blue asked sweetly, bobbing the coil up and down until Red snatched it back into his own hands again.

“Yeah whatever, Blue,” Red grumbled. “You’re distracting, you know that?”

“Shut up!” Blue snapped. “You’re the distracting one.” 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt his face catch on fire. Because what was really distracting him was how good Red looked as he strung up the lights. 

His face must have gone scarlet, because the next thing he knew, Red was smiling smugly at him. “Do you have a fever or something?” he asked. “Maybe you should go lay down.” 

“No, I am perfectly fine,” Blue huffed. “It’s just stupid cold out here.” 

Red sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Here we go again…” 

For a few minutes, they put up lights in silence. Blue worked on carefully wrapping the twisted, reaching branches of their live oaks in multi-colored strands of lights. He found that the cold didn’t bother him quite as much-- he actually found himself entertained, and excited to see how the fruits of their labor turned out. 

After a while, Red broke the silence. “So… what do you do now, anyway?” 

“I’m a financial advisor,” Blue answered. 

“Which means what?” 

“I get paid to tell rich people what to do with their excessive amounts of money.”

“Oh.” His nose scrunched up, as if he’d tasted something sour. “That sounds awful.” 

“It’s not that bad,” Blue said. “You would be amazed at how incompetent some of these people are with their money, though. It makes you wonder how they even got it in the first place.” 

“I don’t know…” Red said skeptically. “To me that sounds like the definition of hell.” 

Blue shrugged. “It pays the bills, ya know?”

“Yeah… I guess I can understand that.” 

Another gap of silence. This time, Blue broke it. 

“So, what has it been like working here for the past three years?” 

Red seemed to think about that one for a long time, not entirely sure how to answer him. He continued with his work, now pulling out some of the glowing yellow star ornaments that he started to place in the bushes along the road, but he wasn’t as controlled as before. He seemed thrown off considerably.

“It got harder, definitely. After you left.” 

The statement made him freeze. He glanced over, searching his face. Trying to tell if he was serious or not. 

“Really?” he asked. “I just kind of assumed that… well, I didn’t think I contributed that much.”

Red glanced over, his features twisted in confusion. “Why would you think that?” he asked. 

Blue thought back to how things used to be. How no matter how hard he tried, he never felt good enough. He felt, back then, as if he’d been working as hard as he could have, but no one ever acknowledged it. 

The truth was that he knew exactly why he’d felt that way--and the reason was standing right in front of him. But it wasn’t as if he could tell that to Red. 

So instead, he lied. “I don’t know,” he forced himself to say, and quickly diverted his gaze so that Red couldn’t look into his eyes. 

Red stared at him quietly for what seemed like forever. Blue got the feeling that he was concerned about something, but he didn’t dare look up at his expression to confirm this, instead choosing to focus on the lights. 

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke. “Well… I want you to know that you contributed way more than you think. You were an extremely valuable member of the team and when you left… well, we still haven’t really recovered.” 

The heartfelt sentiment hit him directly in the gut. Blue hadn’t been prepared for it, and now he felt his throat constrict as he fought off tears. It was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever told him, but at the same time, it made him sad, because he was only going to be here for a few days, and then he would be half a world away from here once more. 

But… that was a good thing, right? He hated it here… didn’t he? 

Finally, he chanced a peek at Red. He looked caught off guard for a second, but then smiled at him, warmly, and instantly the chill of the air and sting of the flying snow seemed to fade away. 

And suddenly, he wasn’t so sure. 

…

“Here we go,” Red said. “Moment of truth…” 

It was just getting dark outside when they finally finished up with all of the lights… just in time for the kids to start showing up. The only thing was… they hadn’t tested them yet. The entire mile or so of lights was connected together by a long string of extension cords, and Red was just about to connect the final one. 

Theoretically, they should all blaze to life at the same time, but it seemed to Blue to be equally possible that they all remain dark as the night itself. They’d put up a  _ lot _ of Christmas lights, after all. 

Blue found his heart thrumming with anticipation as he waited for Red to finally connect the final cord. It seemed like he was taking an eternity, and it occurred to him that he was perhaps doing so deliberately. He inspected the ends of the cords, blew on one of them for good measure, and then slowly, painfully, brought the two together. 

Like magic, a million different points of light flared to life, painting the dark landscape in colorful, neon hues. Red and white lights twinkled and spun together on the lampposts, giving them the look of candy canes. The oaks were wrapped in green and blue and white lights in alternating patterns, strung together by lines of flashing, multicolored stars. 

Joy rushed through him like a tidal wave, and, without thinking, he grabbed onto Red’s free hand. 

“Wow!” he gushed. “Look at all of them!” 

Red glanced over to him, surprised. “Blue--” he began. 

It wasn’t until then that Blue realized what he was doing, and let go as quickly as if he had touched something hot. Embarrassment flooded through him, and he was suddenly glad that it was too dark to see his face. 

“Whoops,” he sputtered. “I didn’t mean to--” 

“No,” Red said hurriedly, waving his hands, “It’s fine, really--” 

“I’d better… I need to…” he shook his head. “I’ll just go back inside.” 

“But--” Red began, but Blue rushed off before he could finish. 


	7. Chapter 7

Blue was so embarrassed that he was tempted to just jump on an airplane and fly right back to Kalos, but his flight wasn’t for another nine days, and he didn’t really have any way to get there, unless he wanted to trek through the snow. 

So instead, he holed up in his room, taking all of the financial documents with him so that he could continue fixing them. Eventually, though, his eyelids started to droop, and he curled under his blankets to go to sleep. 

The next morning, though, he knew that he couldn’t hide in his room any longer. 

He tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to step too loudly. He aimed to take a little walk outside, but just as he was reaching for the front door knob, it opened. 

He let out a squeak of surprise when he came face to face with Red, who jumped slightly when he saw him. 

And immediately, he blushed. 

“Oh, um… hi, Blue,” he said. “I didn’t think you’d be up so early…”    
  


“I was just, um… going for a walk,” he explained. “Hey, wait--what are you doing?” 

“I needed to grab the keys to the truck. I’m going to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for dinner tonight.” He paused for a second, looking a bit uncertain. “Do you want to… go with me?” 

Blue was shocked at the offer. He didn’t think Red would want him to go with him, and especially not after last night. He tried to think of an excuse not to go, but stopped without putting too much effort in. Though he was still embarrassed, he couldn’t deny that he definitely felt something for Red--and he definitely wanted to go with him. 

“Sure, why not,” he said, trying to sound just as casual as could be. “That way, I can make sure you don’t spend too much money.” 

Red’s lips curved up in a grin. “I was hoping you’d say that.” 

Really? He was? A warmth spread in his chest, and he couldn’t help but smile back. 

…

“Alright,” Red said, holding up a can of cranberry sauce and turning it’s label towards Blue. “There’s no way you can find a cheaper one than this.” 

Blue had an eye for picking out the most economical grocery items, and Red had noticed. Every time he picked up a can to put into the cart, Blue would swoop in and suggest that they get the cheaper brand. Now, it had turned into a sort-of game, in which Red was actively trying to beat Blue in finding the cheapest version of the item they were looking for. 

“Hmmmm….” Blue murmured as he scanned the shelves, critically judging the numbers on the pricetags. He let his eyes follow where his finger led, until he landed on the brand of cranberry sauce that Red had found--then located one that was two cents cheaper. 

“Aha!” 

He snatched it up and showed it to Red, triumphantly. Red squinted at it, suspiciously. 

“No way!” he exclaimed. “I could have sworn I was going to win that round…” 

“You’ll never beat me at this game,” Blue teased, and shot him a smile. 

“Wow,” Red remarked, tossing the can into the cart and pushing it onward. “When did you get so cheap, anyway?” 

Blue shrugged. “I had to survive college somehow.” 

Blue wondered if Red was going to bring up last night. He didn’t. Which must have meant it wasn’t that big of a deal, right? 

Just as he was thinking it, Red drawled, “So… about last night.” 

_ Crap.  _ He felt his ears heat. “Uh… what about it?” 

“I just wanted to say… I appreciated your help. The kids really enjoyed the lights.” 

“Oh,” Blue said, letting a breath out of his lungs in relief. “Well, you’re welcome.” 

Red glanced over at him, and for a second looked like he might say something more. Something that looked like longing flashed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth, but then closed it. 

Blue swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, sucked in a deep breath, and asked, “So… what else is on that list?” 

Red looked grateful for the distraction, his entire body deflating a little with relief. He pulled out the list he’d scrawled down on a slip of paper and followed it with his finger. 

“Looks like all we have left is the ham,” he stated. 

Blue nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.” 

…

They finally walked out of the store twenty minutes later after checking out all of their groceries. The place was crowded and stuffy, and the lines absurdly long, and Blue let out a breath of relief when they finally stepped out into the cold, for once feeling grateful for it. 

They were about to cross the parking lot to their truck when something caught Blue’s eye.

“Oh. My. God.” 

Red glanced over to him. “What--” he began, but Blue didn’t hear the rest of the question as he quickly split off in a different direction. 

A man sat in a chair next to a box full of fluffy, tiny brown foxes, which Blue immediately dropped to a crouch in front of. The seven baby Eevees in the large cardboard box cried out happily and crowded the edge of it, obviously hungry for attention. 

Blue giggled and reached out to pet as many of the adorable creatures as he could. He scratched at one’s ear and it responded by nuzzling it’s face against his palm. 

“Blue?” Red asked, from behind. “What are you… Oh.” 

“They’re so cute, Red!” Blue exclaimed, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of fluff. “I mean, just look at them!” 

He picked up one, who didn’t seem to mind at all, and held it up to Red as if in demonstration. The Eevee, bless its heart, mewled happily and twitched its big ears at him. 

“They are very cute,” Red said, trying to sound unaffected by their charms, but a big smile broke out on his face nevertheless. He reached out to pet it’s head. “Do you want one?” 

Blue glanced to their owner, noticing him for the first time. He was a big, happy looking man with a curly white beard. He looked like Santa Claus. 

“How much are you selling them for?” Asked Blue. 

“Those are some of my best Eevees,” he said proudly. “I’m selling them for 300 dollars each.” 

_ Oof.  _ Blue winced and quickly replaced the Eevee into the box. 

“Well, thanks for your time,” he said, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. “And happy holidays.” 

He grabbed the cart and pushed it back to the truck. Red hesitated for a moment, glancing back towards the box of Eevees, but then followed after him. 

...

By the time they got back to the ranch, Daisy was up, and as soon as they set the groceries on the kitchen counter, she started cooking. 

Red excused himself and left the house for a little while, not bothering to tell any of them where he was going or what he was going to be doing. Whatever it was involved the truck. Blue’s best guess was that he’d discovered something that he had forgotten from the store or something like that. 

Blue half-heartedly asked his sister if she needed any help with dinner, but she assured him that she didn’t. So instead he went back to the office to pick up where he left off on the ranch finances. 

He worked with the door open, like he usually did, but evidently Daisy needed the Christmas music to be playing blaringly loud to concentrate on cooking. It was horribly distracting, so Blue shut the door in an attempt to suppress the noise. It helped… slightly. 

Several hours later, the door swung open. Red jumped a little in surprise when he saw that Blue was in the room. 

“Oh.” he cleared his throat, awkwardly. “I thought this room was empty…” 

Blue noticed the cardboard boxes he held in his hands and the roll of wrapping paper tucked under his arm. He nodded to them. “Doing some last minute gift wrapping?” 

“Yeah… something like that,” Red confirmed. “But, I can find somewhere else to--” 

“No, it’s fine,” Blue said, quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. “I can help you wrap them, if you want.” 

“Are you sure? You look pretty busy…” 

“It’s no big deal. It won’t take long, anyway,” Blue assured him. He deftly cleared the big wooden desk, giving him space to work. “Here, hand me a present,” he said. He glanced at Red’s numerous boxes, and pointed to the small one, stacked on the very top of the pile like the star on top of a Christmas Tree. “I can start with that one.” 

“No you can’t,” Red said. “That one is for you.” 

Blue blinked, dumbfounded. “You… got me something?” 

For a second, Red looked slightly bewildered… as if he wasn’t planning on letting Blue know that he got a gift for him, and he hadn’t realized until just now that he’d let the Meowth out of the bag. He could have sworn he caught the traces of a blush on his cheeks as he admitted, “Yeah, I got something for you.” 

“You shouldn’t have,” Blue stated, matter-of-factly. “I didn’t get anything for you.” 

Red gave a minute reaction of outrage that subsided almost as fast as it appeared.“That’s not true. You’re giving me countless free hours of financial help, so I figured that it was the least I could do.” 

Blue winced. Yes he was providing a lot of financial services here but in all honesty who wanted that instead of an actual, physical gift for Christmas? Doing the work to get the farm’s finances in order really was something that needed to be done irregardless of it being Christmas time. Besides, Blue had the money to actually buy some gifts, so why shouldn’t he buy some?

“I’m going to get you something too, then. You all deserve Christmas gifts, especially if you’ve got me something.”

The only question was what to get him...Blue knew Red was notoriously hard to shop for, based on his past experiences. He was the kind of person who would buy the things he wanted without giving any notice to anyone, thus completely eliminating any sort of wishlist he might have compiled otherwise, and he never really asked for anything specific. 

“I really don’t need anything, Blue,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting anything in the first place. But if you absolutely insist… I won’t turn it down.” 

“You’d better not,” Blue warned, on his way out the door. 

As soon as the door shut, Blue all but jumped down the stairs, sprinting down the hall, snatched the truck keys, and started to kick little pebbles out of the gravel driveway as he peeled out for the town. 

While he was driving, Blue tried to formulate some sort of an idea of what he could possibly buy for Red. It was Christmas Eve, and he knew that the stores were packed full of people doing last minute shopping, like he was. He racked his brain as Christmas music flowed out of the tinny truck speakers, but by the time he got there, he still had absolutely no idea what he was going to get. 

Until he passed the storefront of a pet store, and he stopped so fast in front of it that he made the brakes nearly lock up and the guy behind him blared on his horn. 

Sitting in the glass window facing the sidewalk was the most absolutely adorable creature of all time (excepting, of course, the Eevees he had seen this morning). It stared out at the street with its big, bright blue eyes, its fiery tail sweeping back and forth in a careless sort of motion. 

He wasn’t sure how he knew that Red would like it, but he did. It just seemed like him. He had no idea what Red’s taste in pokemon were, or whether he even had any of his own, but he just had to get it. It was the perfect gift, although he couldn’t explain exactly how he knew. 

“How much for the Charmander there?” Blue asked politely, once he managed to push through the line to the store clerk. 

The girl at the counter looked shocked to see someone asking her about that particular pokemon. “Oh, well…” she began, “Charmander are a little… quirky.” 

“Yeah… and?” he asked, wheeling his hand. “How much?” 

“I’m not sure I’d recommend--” 

“How much?” Blue asked for the third time, cutting her off before she could finish. 

“Fifty dollars,” she finally answered. 

“Sold,” Blue replied, smacking his credit card down on the table. 

He knew that buying the pokemon was risky, that Red might not even want to take it. If that was the case, he would just take it home with him himself. He’d always wanted a pokemon, and he had plenty enough resources to take care of it himself. 

Five minutes later, he was on his way back to the ranch, the Charmander tucked safely away in a pokeball. 


	8. Chapter 8

When Blue got home, he quickly wrapped the pokeball in a small square box, and shoved it underneath the Christmas tree in the living room along with all of the other presents. Daisy was putting the finishing touches on dinner, and Red was in the kitchen, helping her. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Blue. 

He was hoping that the answer would be ‘no,’ but Daisy called over her shoulder, “You can set the table, Blue.” 

_ Dammit _ . Blue suppressed a sigh, but didn’t complain. Daisy looked really stressed out; he didn’t want to make that worse. Plus, he  _ had _ asked to help.

“You got it, sis,” he said instead, and went over to the cabinet to pull out the plates. 

He carefully set up the table with four plates and corresponding cutlery for each. He didn’t even ask if Red was staying for dinner; he already knew that he was. After that, he quietly left the chaos of the kitchen to wait. 

It took about twenty more minutes for Daisy to proclaim that everything was ready. Blue returned to find the ham in the center of the table, flanked on all sides by platefuls of food, including mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and mac and cheese. 

He sat down at the table at a seat across from Red, who gave him a sympathetic look as Daisy fluttered out of the kitchen to retrieve his grandpa. 

Once she was gone, he leaned over and said, “I think if a single thing goes wrong with this dinner, she will explode.” 

“Oh, I know so,” Blue replied. “But really, I don’t blame her. Putting something together like this is stressful.” 

“You should have been here earlier, when she set the fire alarm off,” Red said under his breath. “I thought she was going to have a complete meltdown.” 

Blue couldn’t help but laugh, although he tried to suppress it when Daisy came back, Gramps in tow. She sat him down in one of the chairs on the ends of the table, and she took the other one. 

“Alright,” she announced, “Dig in, everybody.” 

It wasn’t until then that Blue realized that he’d hardly eaten anything all day, and that he was really, really hungry. Immediately he reached for a serving spoon and piled some potatoes onto his plate, along with some ham and green bean casserole.

“This is really nice,” Gramps said, out of nowhere. “You know, it’s been such a long time since we’ve all been here to enjoy a meal together.” His eyes drifted over all the food, at first, as if trying to decide what to eat first. Then they seemed to level off to all the faces around the room one at a time before his gaze lingered on the window looking out to the snow covered landscape over the hills of the farm.

“Red, did you get the barn fixed?” he said suddenly, his eyebrows scrunching together. 

Red blinked. Glanced at Daisy. Then Blue. “Uh… yeah.” he said, very slowly. “I put the tin on last winter. Why?”

“Did you do it all by yourself?” 

“I mean… um, yeah, why?” he asked, again. 

At this, Gramps looked at Red, his face contorting. A shadow seemed to play over all the lines and creases in his weathered skin, making his eyes glint intensely. “Why did you do it alone, Red?” he demanded, leaning forward in his chair.

Red looked confused for a while, unsure of how to answer. 

“Blue didn’t help you? What was he doing?” 

Daisy cleared her throat delicately. “Grampa, why don’t you get some of the mashed potatoes? I made them with the cheese you like-”

“Don’t interrupt me, Daisy!” The boom of his voice made everyone at the table jump, Silverware clinked all over the table, knives and forks flinging out of hands into plates and glasses. Blue stopped chewing and stared. Red quickly swallowed his water and wiped his mouth, his expression confused and concerned. Daisy looked like a mixture of too pale in complexion and outraged.

“Look, it's really not that big of a deal,” Red said, trying to de-escalate the situation. “That was a long time ago, and it wasn’t too hard…” 

“But you needed help!” Gramps all but shouted. “I saw you! You were on that roof for three days by yourself! Nobody was out there if you fell or needed something! And I couldn’t help you like this!”

Red stared at him open-mouthed, speechless. 

Blue felt cold, his skin breaking out in a cold sweat under his clothes. He had no clue that the barn roof ever had any kind of problem, much less that it needed a full replacement. On top of that he honestly couldn’t believe that Red managed to finish the entire thing by himself. Roofing was an insane amount of work by itself, but to do an entire roof alone was unimaginable.

Why wasn’t he there to help him with that? Well, of course it was because no one bothered to tell him about this stuff, but that didn't change how horrible he suddenly felt about it.

“Where. Was. Blue?” Gramps asked coldly, emphasizing every word. “Didn’t I always tell you to never work out there by yourself? I told you how dangerous that was, didn’t I? Tell me where Blue was.”

“I was in Kalos, grandpa,” he answered, quietly. “Don’t you remember?”

But his grandfather didn’t so much as turn his head to hear him, his eyes fixed on Red with a stare that burned like a Pokemon using Overheat. 

“He was working,” Red said, reiterating what Blue just said. “He was working in Kalos.”

Gramps sat back in his chair, looking to Daisy as if for confirmation. When she only frowned, legitimate fear for her Grandfather’s health clearly spread over her expression, and his face tightened into a dispassionate mask.

“Oh, is that so,” he said, his voice now taking on a disappointed note. “I’m afraid I’m not surprised. The barn, the truck, the trailer yesterday...whenever you need him, he’s nowhere to be found.” 

Blue shot a glance to Red.  _ Is this really happening? _ he mouthed to him, all but throwing his hands up in the air.

“Gramps, Blue went with me to get the trailer the other day,” Red tried to say. 

“What are you talking about? Blue isn’t here.” 

“He’s sitting right next to you,” Daisy said, motioning to Blue with her hand. 

He didn’t look. Instead, he turned his head over to the window again and shook it, several times. “Blue wouldn’t come back here. Why would he? He makes all that money he cares so much about there at that job of his. He gets a corner office with a view of the city. He doesn’t have to put on a pair of boots and actually do anything that really matters!”

Blue was absolutely dumbfounded, so shocked that he couldn’t even speak. It was obvious that Red and Daisy were just as surprised as he was, glancing between the two of them in varying stages of confusion and concern. 

Red visibly seemed to force himself to take a breath in order to calm his nerves enough to talk. “Gramps… Blue came home to save the farm. He is working on fixing the finances so we can keep this place running right now.”

“Oh yeah?” Gramps snarled. “And how much is he charging you for that?”

“Nothing,” Red said, just as calmly, although Blue noticed that an edge crept into his voice.

“Yeah well, expect a bill in the mail and debt collector to come calling,” Gramps spat. “He never does anything for free. Especially not when it comes to actually helping support his family. Even after everything we’ve done for him, all the opportunity he had here, he chose to leave. He doesn’t care about us at all. That’s why he always complained when we asked for his help, he did terrible work on every project, and left for the big city at the first opportunity that he could, so he can be a complaining, pathetic simpleton there too.”

Blue shook his head and put down his fork, pushing away from the table. “I’m going for a walk,” he snapped, and shot to his feet. He left through the front door without bothering to put on a coat first, slamming in a little harder than necessary on his way out. 

His feet started out crunching in the snow, slow and stomping, but before he knew it, they were stepping faster. His tempo picked up in a heartbeat as heat built to an uncontrollable temperature in his chest, and the wind stung his bare skin. Before he realized what was going on, he was running as fast as he could go through the white powdery landscape, going off in a direction that he didn’t know. He was so upset that he couldn’t think, his judgement clouded by the sheer amount of anger that flooded his bloodstream and made his vision blur. 

But just as the anger boiled to the top and threatened to overflow, sorrow cut him deeply. His body sputtered, from full throttle to idle in an instant. 

The next thing he knew his foot seared with sudden pain and he landed so hard his vision flashed white. 

He rolled in the cold, his body instantly shivering and shaking uncontrollably, his hand searching amongst his numbing body for his head. It took a couple of traces over his skull before his hand could feel well enough again to actually tell what happened. His vision still blurred like a fogged up shower door from a steamy shower but it was clear he tripped on a tree root and hit his head on something. 

Crap, there was blood on his fingers. He groaned, realizing that he’d probably given himself a concussion.

But what did that matter? Nobody cared. Gramps just said all the things he knew were true.

He wasn’t welcome here. 

A crunch in the snow behind him gave him a tiny warning right before something flopped loosely on top of him, obscuring his view. He fumbled with it, his limbs still really uncoordinated and wobbly from the fall. 

“Good God Blue,” Red breathed. “Are you okay?” 

“No,” Blue answered, honestly. “I am not okay.” 

Blue finally figured out that Red had brought him his jacket. Clumsily, he pulled it on, shivering even as he hugged the fabric to his chest. It was big, and warm, and smelled faintly of hay.

Red bit his lip, his expression twisting with worry. He crouched down, inspecting the cut on his forehead. “I don’t think its deep,” he concluded, his voice barely over a murmur. “Let’s get you back inside.” 

“I don’t want to go back inside,” Blue replied, even as he shivered. 

“Blue, it’s like twenty degrees and snowing out here,” Red said. “You need to go back inside.” 

“Look, Red, I just need a minute,” Blue said, letting his anger and sorrow seep out through his voice. “After… all of that.” 

Sympathy flashed in Red’s eyes. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That was… a disaster.” 

“Yeah…” Blue sighed, feeling his chest deflate. “You can say that again.” 

For a while, neither of them said anything. Blue’s teeth started to chatter, and he clutched on tighter to the sides of the jacket. 

“I don’t think he meant any of that,” Red ventured. “You know he’s old, and kind of losing it…” 

“‘Kind of?’ That’s the understatement of the century,” Blue said, watching as a breath of frustration escaped in a steamy cloud. “But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.” 

Red stared at him for a second as if he didn’t know what to say. Then, wordlessly, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him, enveloping him in the comforting warmth of his body. Blue felt himself shaking still as he pressed his head against his chest. 

“Red…” he began, but let the sentence trail off, unsure of what he was going to say in the first place. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried desperately to keep them at bay, but a few still escaped. 

“I’m sorry,” Red whispered. “You didn’t deserve that. And absolutely none of it was true.” 

At that, the dam that was holding back his emotions burst open, and he started sobbing. Everything, all at once, was just way too much for him to handle. What had happened at dinner… how nice Red was being to him now… it completely overwhelmed him. He was sure that Red noticed that he was crying, but he didn’t comment on it, his only response being to hold onto him tighter. 

After a while, his emotions subsided, and he pulled away to wipe his nose and face. It took him a while before he could bring himself to look at Red, but he was relieved to see that he didn’t look quite as concerned anymore. 

“Are you ready to go inside now?” he asked, softly. 

Blue sucked in a breath and managed to nod. “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go.” 


	9. Chapter 9

When Blue got back inside, his grandpa was sitting in the recliner in the living room. He smiled at him, brightly, as soon as he stepped in the door. 

“Oh, hey, it’s my grandson!” he said cheerfully. “I’m so happy you’re home!” 

Blue felt his back stiffen. It was like nothing had ever happened, like he didn’t even remember his outburst over the dinner table that hadn’t even been thirty minutes ago. Blue realized that he probably legitimately didn’t remember any of the hurtful things he’d said. 

Despite how angry and hurt he’d felt, Blue still felt a pang of sympathy for the man. And it wasn’t as if he could just stop caring about him. He was his grandfather, after all. 

So instead of getting mad, he forced a smile on his lips and said, “Yeah, me too!” and then left the living room as quickly as possible. 

He made a b-line to the kitchen, where his sister was cleaning up the remainder of dinner. She looked up, surprised, when he walked past her to the desserts that she had set out on the counter. He peeled off the plastic wrap on a glass plate of chocolate no-bake cookies, grabbed six, and immediately took a bite out of one. 

“Blue, thats--” Red began, but seemed to think better of whatever he was about to say. “...Nevermind.” 

Daisy quickly wiped the soapy water from her hands and turned around to hug Blue’s neck. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “How are you feeling?” 

“I’ll be fine,” Blue replied, finishing off the rest of the first cookie and moving on to the second. “Do we have any alcohol?” 

“Plenty,” Red answered. “Do you want me to make you something?” 

“Sure, surprise me,” Blue answered. “I’m going to change my clothes.” 

Blue went back to his room to change out of his freezing, soaking wet clothes and back into a nice, warm set of sweatpants and pajamas. When he got back into the kitchen, Red handed him a glass of what looked like eggnog. Blue accepted it and took a sip. 

“Oh my god,” Blue said, upon realizing it was probably half Jack Daniels. “This is… strong.” 

Red frowned worriedly. “Too much?” he asked. 

Blue shook his head and took another sip. “Nope. It’s perfect.” 

After that, he, Daisy and Red talked for a while about nothing particularly important. Blue learned that evidently the farmer who lived down the street had an Arcanine that gave birth to a shiny Growlithe, and their neighbor’s daughter had gotten married and moved to the other side of the region. After a while, all the alcohol from the eggnog and sugar from the cookies kicked in, and he felt himself start to relax and enjoy himself a bit more. 

Red and Blue found the living room all to themselves when Daisy took Gramps to bed. They sat side by side on the couch, Red scrolling through the channels on the tv. 

Blue stopped him by putting his hand on his arm when he caught a snippet of ‘A Christmas Story’ playing. “Wait! No—go back.” 

Red paused for a second. “Go back?” He asked. 

“Yeah, go back.” 

Red turned the channel back one and set the remote on the coffee table. He leaned back into the couch cushions and stretched. He glanced at Blue cautiously before laying an arm over his shoulder, and asked tentatively, “Is this okay?” 

Blue felt his heartbeat pick up in his chest and heat sweep through his entire body at his touch. Of course it was okay, but for a second he couldn’t say that. Red started to pull away at his hesitation, but Blue reached up and touched his arm, stopping him. 

“No,” he said, quietly, “This is perfect.” 

Blue moved in closer to him, snuggling up against his side, and rested his head against his chest. He felt so warm, so comfortable, so safe in Red’s arms that when he exhaled next, it felt as if all of his worries and fears flooded out of him. 

“Have… you ever watched this movie?” Red asked, and Blue may have imagined it, but he sounded somewhat breathless. 

“Are you kidding? This is a classic!”

“I’ve never seen it.” 

“Well, you’re watching it tonight.” 

Blue absolutely meant to watch the movie in its entirety, but almost as soon as it started, he was hit with a wave of fatigue. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he couldn’t keep them open, no matter how hard he tried. 

At some point, he must have fallen asleep. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out before Red gently woke him up. 

“Hey, Blue,” he said, “I have to go home now, okay?” 

“No…” Blue groaned. “Can’t you stay?” 

He paused for a second, considering, but then sighed. “Sorry,” he said, “I need to make sure Mom is okay. I’ll be back in the morning, though.” 

“Fine…” Blue sighed, getting up. “I’ll walk you out.”

The house was quiet and dark but the wind still howled, and when Blue stepped outside onto the front porch after Red, the first thing that hit him was the cold. He hugged his hands to his sides and glanced up at him under the glowing lamplight. 

“Be careful going back,” Blue said. “It’s bad out there.” 

“I will,” he assured him, and began to turn around. 

An urgency rose up in his chest, and before he knew what he was doing, he reached forward and caught his hand. “Wait!” He interjected. “Before you go… Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you here tonight.” 

Red stared at him for a moment in absolute wonder, his brown eyes glittering in the dark. 

Then he leaned forward and, very gently, planted a kiss on his cheek. 

“You’re welcome,” he whispered. “Good night.” 

And with that, he stepped off of the porch and into the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

“Oh HELL yes,” Blue exclaimed, pulling the present out of the wrapping paper, “SOCKS!” 

He said it with over-exaggerated enthusiasm, but he was only half-joking. Every year, he felt more and more grateful for being gifted brand new socks. It was weird getting older. 

Across from him, Red stifled a laugh, but couldn’t stop himself from grinning at his reaction. Blue caught himself smiling back… before heat started to spread over his face and he had to look away. He was still shocked—in not necessarily a bad way—over what had happened last night. But he hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to Red about it yet, and he didn’t quite know how to act now. He felt almost nervous, like he would if he were in middle school trying to work up the nerve to talk to the kid he was crushing on.

“I’m glad you like them, grandson,” he Grandpa said, totally oblivious to any sarcasm in his voice. “Daisy, why don’t you open yours next?” 

Everyone got a new pair of socks, each in a different color. Red got quite a few new tools, and he got a couple of books and a wristwatch. The presents under the tree dwindled until only two small tiny boxes remained. 

Evidently, Daisy and Gramps didn’t take any notice of the last two gifts, and Daisy got up to take the bag of wrapping paper and ribbons they had compiled to the trash while his grandfather said something about going to the bathroom and wandered down the hallway. When the room was vacated, Red reached underneath the tree, grabbed the small box, and placed it in Blue’s hand. 

“Here you go,” he said. “From me to you.” 

Blue snatched his own present from under the tree and shoved it into Red’s hands. “No, you first,” he said. 

“I’ll open mine after you open yours,” he bargained. 

“ _ No _ , you first,” Blue repeated, this time with more emphasis. 

Red scoffed in mock irritation, but a smile twisted up on his lips. “Okay, fine,” he said, and, with painstaking care, unwrapped the present, not tearing even a centimeter of it. 

When he finally took the top off of the tiny cardboard box, his brow furrowed. “It’s… a pokeball?” He asked. 

“Open it,” Blue prompted, waving a hand. His stomach twisted with anticipation in the moment between his finger pressing the white button and the Pokémon inside of it emerging, afraid that Red wouldn’t like it. 

The fire pokemon appeared cheerfully, giving an enthusiastic cry, swinging its tail back and forth. It seemed happy to find itself in a warm environment, and one that wasn’t a pet store. 

“Oh my god,” Red gasped. “You got me a Charmander?!” 

“Yeah,” Blue said, biting his lip. “If you don’t like it, I’ll—” 

Red stopped him by putting his hand on top of his. “I love it. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted one. But I just haven’t had the time to look.” 

He let go to rub the top of Charmander’s head, grinning hugely. Blue felt equal parts relief and joy at watching the interaction, and all at once his entire body felt warm. 

At some point, though, the baby fire salamander swung its tail just a bit too close for comfort to the Christmas Tree, and Red quickly pressed the button on the pokeball to return it. “I guess I’ll have to play with him a bit more outside,” he said, turning to Blue. “Okay, now it’s your turn.” 

Blue didn’t believe in salvaging used wrapping paper, so he just went ahead and ripped it off, revealing a tiny cardboard box. He flipped open the lid, revealing… 

“You got me a Pokémon too?!” Blue asked, grabbing the pokeball inside. Without waiting for a reply, he pressed the white center button, and in his lap formed a warm, fluffy creature, with a big tail and long ears. Blue let out a yelp of surprise when he realized what it was. 

“No. Fricking. Way.” 

Red looked over at him, expression worried, until he saw his face. Because the most perfect, wonderful, adorable baby Eevee was sitting on his lap, and all he could do was grin. Blue giggled as it cuddled up against his chest lovingly, and ran his fingers through its soft, downy fur. 

He suddenly recognized the Eevee from their encounter at the grocery store, and alarm shot through him. “Holy crap, Red, I hope you didn’t spend 300 dollars on me.“ 

“I negotiated with him on price. I didn’t pay too much, I promise,” he assured him. “But when I saw you holding that Eevee… I knew I had to get it for you. You’re not mad, are you?” 

Instead of answering him, Blue pitched forward and captured his lips with his own. He heard Red let out a little surprised sound at the sudden impact, but then returned his kiss with an equal amount of passion. 

Abruptly seeming to realize what he was doing, Blue broke away. He would have felt embarrassed for how deeply he blushed afterwards, if Red wasn’t just as flushed. 

“It’s perfect,” he managed. “Thank you, Red. Really.” 

“You’re welcome,” Red told him, sounding just as bewildered as he felt. 

Blue was hit with the sudden urge to say something else, but just as he was opening his mouth, his phone buzzed in his pocket with an incoming text message. He fished it out of his pocket, checking who it was from. 

It was his boss, John. ‘Blue, we need to talk. NOW.’ It read. 

Instantly, he felt a lead weight drop straight into his stomach, followed shortly by a burst of annoyance. What was the point of sending such a dire sounding text when he could just call, if that was the case? He muttered obscenities under his breath as he quickly typed back. 

“What is it?” Red asked, sounding concerned. 

“My stupid boss,” Blue spat back. “Let me just see what he wants. I’ll be right back.” 

Carefully, he returned Eevee to its pokeball, stood up, and walked outside. 

…

“Ah, Blue! Merry Christmas! I hope you’re doing well?” 

“John, what do you want?” Blue demanded, ignoring his questions. 

This seemed to throw him off a bit, because it was a while before he answered. “Oh… well, I’m going to need you to be back by the 27th of December.” 

“Wait,  _ what _ ?” Blue asked. “We already talked about this. I’m not going to be back until—“

“Well, you see, things have changed,” he said, casually, “I already set you up with a couple of important clients on the 27th.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Blue said hotly, unable to hold back his anger. “You know I’m in like, a completely different region right now, don’t you?” 

“Yes, which is why I wanted to give you some notice.” 

Notice?! He couldn’t be serious. If he had to be back at work on the 27th, it meant that he needed to leave tomorrow. What kind of notice was that?!

“Couldn’t you have called someone who is actually in Kalos right now?” Blue asked, trying not to snap at him. 

“No, it has to be you.” 

“Well, if the clients want to meet with me so bad, it can wait until after I get back from vacation,” Blue said. “I’m not going to come back until it’s over.” 

“I’m afraid that if you don’t, you won’t be employed anymore.” 

The sentence made Blue’s entire body freeze. Was he seriously suggesting that he would fire him if he didn’t come back early? 

A split second later, righteous anger slammed into him. “That’s not fair!” Blue shouted. “You can’t fire me for not working on a day that I requested off ages ago, and you signed off on! Besides, I haven’t done anything wrong!” 

Blue could practically hear him shrugging through the phone. “We are an at will employer,” he said. “Anyway, I’ll let you think about it. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.” 

Blue opened his mouth to curse him out, but before he got the chance, his boss hung up. 


	11. Chapter 11

Blue, in his anger, slammed the door when he came back inside, which prompted both Red and Daisy to look up. 

“What was that about?” Red asked, when he stepped into the living room. 

“Oh, my boss just wanted to tell me Merry Christmas,” Blue replied, with a heavy amount of sarcasm in his voice. “...And that he’s going to fire me if I don’t go back tomorrow.” 

Both Red’s and Daisy’s faces went pale at once. “Wait, what?” he asked. “Is that even legal?”

“Yeah, unfortunately, it is,” Blue sighed, kneading his forehead. “It’s an at-will employer. They can fire me whenever they want to. They don’t need a reason.” 

“Well, what are you going to do?” asked Daisy, sounding slightly panicked. “You’re not supposed to leave until after New Year’s!” 

“Did you try turning it off and back on again?” his grandpa suggested, the upward lilt of his voice making it obvious that he genuinely thought he was making a good suggestion. “That usually fixes it!”

Blue tried his best to project his thoughts to his Grandpa to shut up since he obviously had no idea they were talking about a person. “No, I was a bit preoccupied with him casually threatening to fire me, on  _ Christmas _ , despite me knowing full well he has plenty of other people that are still wanting to work during the holidays.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Daisy continued. “Why would anyone do that?” 

His grandpa huffed and made an old man kind of grunt mixed with a lip smacking sound. “Damned toasters… crazy machines… always burning my toast!”

All three of the younger people in the room looked to one another, then to Gramps, then back to each other. 

“Okay well that is screwed up,” Red said, his blood boiling. “Who really wants to discuss financial stuff right after Christmas anyway?”

“People who have spent way too much money on Christmas,” Blue supplied. “You know, the people you see in the commercials that buy two of the exact same brand new car in different colors for their significant others without discussing it first.” 

“People actually do that in real life?” Daisy asked, sounding baffled. Blue nodded in response. 

“Ok, but seriously, what are you going to do?” asked Red. 

Blue’s eyebrows screwed up as he genuinely considered it. “I… don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess I don’t have much choice. I’ve got to go back tomorrow.” 

“Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?” his grandfather suggested, helpfully. 

Red looked honestly crushed. “Wait… but… what about…” 

“What about what?” Blue asked, his tone sharp. “Losing my income? My health insurance? My retirement?”

“...us,” Red finished, softly. “I thought you were just starting to enjoy being home again.”

“I was, but that was before I found out I was going to lose my job if I stayed,” Blue said. 

“Screw your job!” Red snapped. “They obviously don’t care about you if this is how they repay you for being a loyal employee.” 

That was… actually a solid point. It made Blue waver on his position, unsure of what exactly to do. He was pretty angry at the circumstances, but pretty scared, too. It wasn’t easy to give up a firm, stable career, especially after how hard he’d worked to get here in the first place.

“Well… what about my degree? I’ve invested a lot of time into this career path. If I get fired from this job I won’t be able to find a decent job in finance for a long time, if ever. What can I possibly do to justify throwing that all away?”

“Have you tried resetting the circuit breaker?” asked his grandfather, totally oblivious to the rising tension in the room. 

“So that’s it, huh?” asked Red, his eyes turning hard. “You’re just going to leave us again?” 

Blue felt as if a knife were being twisted into his chest, pain and sorrow pulsing from the wound. “Haven’t you been listening to me?” he cried, “I don’t have any other choice!” 

“You could stay,” Red said. “You just don’t want to.” 

Anger rose up in his chest again, but this time, it was directed at Red. “That’s not fair and you know it!” He yelled. “You can’t possibly ask me to give up so much when I just came here to visit in the first place! I didn’t come all the way from Kalos to be handed a giant financial mess, only to be guilt-tripped into staying behind to clean it all up, and to be stuck finding out not only that a man I have loved for years had some nasty things to say about me, but also that he is having significant medical problems and might not even be around next year!” Turning to Daisy, he snapped, “Thanks for the heads up, by the way.” 

“He sounds like an asshole!” his Grandpa confirmed. “How dare he? And on Thanksgiving, no less!” Furrowing his brow, he looked to Daisy seriously. “Why are the Christmas lights still up? It’s almost Valentines Day! Honestly, this whole place is a mess...”

Several emotions flitted through Red’s eyes all at once. Anger, hurt, fear. “Blue… I... ” he began, but evidently didn’t have anything else to say. After several seconds of palpably uncomfortable silence, he closed his mouth, turned around, and walked out into the snow, pulling the door to a hard close behind him. 

Blue wanted for a second to storm out after him. For some reason, he was unbearably mad at him, and wanted nothing more than to give him a piece of his mind. At the same time, something that felt like regret twisted in his stomach, and he stayed fixed in place, staring at the front door. 

Daisy put a hand on his arm, and Blue glanced up to her face. He was surprised when he saw tears in her eyes.

“What about the ranch?” She asked, quietly, and Blue knew instantly she was asking about the debt. “What are we going to do without you?” 

“Don’t worry,” Blue assured her, softly. “I’ve got it all figured out. By tomorrow, I’m going to make sure that you and Red have a specific plan that you both understand.” 

“Thank you, Blue,” she said sincerely. “I know we don’t deserve it after keeping all of this from you… but I still really appreciate everything you’ve done.” 

A lump formed in his throat, and suddenly it was all he could do to nod back. He sucked in a deep breath, straightened his back a little, and said, “I… need to make some arrangements. I’ll be in the office, if anyone needs me.” 

He turned and left the living room, blinking back the tears that found their way to his eyes. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is... the long awaited finale to this Christmas story! Sorry it took me so long to put this up, I was celebrating my own belated family holiday after working over Christmas. 
> 
> I hope that you've enjoyed reading this, and that each and every one of you have a happy and bright 2021!

“Is all of this making sense?” Blue asked, looking up from where his finger was placed on the sheet he’d written up earlier today containing very specific instructions on what order their credit cards should be paid off, and how. It was the second time he’d gone over it with Red, who had asked him to explain it again after his first run through. 

Red stared back at him with the exact same expression as before, one that could only be described as the most obstinate blankness he could imagine. His eyes were hard, his arms were crossed, and he made it very obvious that he wished they weren’t having the discussion in the first place. 

“Honestly, Red, are you even trying to pay attention?” Blue snapped finally, anger rushing through him. “This is important! I need to know that you understand this stuff before I leave today.” 

“Maybe I don’t want to understand it,” Red muttered stubbornly. 

“Maybe you need to pull your head out of your ass and realize that you  _ have _ to, or this place won’t be around much longer,” Blue countered. “You can’t just tune me out, even if you don’t like me anymore.” 

Red’s eyes softened a little bit. “I never said I didn’t like you,” he said, sounding almost wounded. 

“Really? Because yesterday, you made it pretty clear that you’d changed your mind about me,” Blue growled, despite himself. He hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but he was admittedly still smarting from Red’s behavior yesterday, and he couldn’t just ignore it. 

Red sighed. “Look, Blue… I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair to you. I was just upset because…” 

He trailed off. Blue wheeled his hand, beckoning him to continue. “Because…?” he prompted. 

Red finally looked him in the eyes, and when he did, a vulnerability shone in them, one he wasn’t expecting. It made the breath hitch in his lungs and longing twist in his stomach. For a moment, he seemed to be considering whether to tell Blue what he was thinking or not.

But then he looked away. “It’s not important,” he said. “I know that you can’t stay here. You have a life you need to get back to, and it was selfish of me to suggest otherwise.” 

“Oh…” Blue said. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, and tried to squash the feeling of disappointment that inexplicably filled him. “Well… I accept your apology, then.” 

Red nodded. “Okay,” he said, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward, “Can you just go over it one more time? I promise I’ll get it this time.” 

“Yeah,” Blue mumbled. He took in a breath, and started again from the top. 

…

Blue didn’t trust himself to say anything on the way to the airport, so he didn’t say anything at all. Red drove him up there in the old truck, not so much as making one snide remark. The entire ride was silent, which prompted Blue to notice just how loud the truck actually was. He tried to focus on the deafening roar of the ancient engine, and not how sad he was to be leaving. 

Not that he’d shown it, of course. He’d purposefully gone out of his way to be as positive and upbeat as possible to his sister and his grandpa on the way out the door, since he didn’t want them to worry about him as much as he was worried about himself. 

He tried to shake the feeling of sadness, telling himself that it was completely illogical. Most of his time here had been miserable, after all, between dealing with the ranch’s debt, Red, and his grandpa. He was still annoyed with his boss, but overall, he should have felt relieved to be going home. 

Some why didn’t he? 

The snow was starting to fall more intensely when they pulled up to the terminal, coming down in white sheets that blanketed the streets and sidewalks. Red parallel parked on the curb closest to the entrance, but left the engine running when he stopped. 

“So…” he said finally, breaking the silence. “I guess this is goodbye.” 

“Yeah,” Blue said, each word dropping heavily out of his mouth. “I guess it is.” 

Slowly, deliberately, he opened the door to the truck and stepped out on the sidewalk. Red got out of the other side, took his rolling suitcase from the backseat, and handed it to him. 

Blue didn’t move to take it immediately. Instead, he found himself staring at Red, wanting desperately to convey something to him, but unsure of what words he would use, exactly. There was so much he wanted to say, but at the same time, nothing at all. His thoughts were a jumbled mess that he couldn’t make sense of, his emotions a tangled sprawl of sadness, regret, and confusion. 

Rather than even try to reveal them vocally, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him. Red stiffened a little in surprise at first, but then returned the embrace, squeezing him into his chest with his warm, strong arms. 

Blue wished, then, that this moment could last forever, but inevitably, a cheerful announcement issued from the PA system’s intercoms, and they broke apart. Blue realized that he needed to go soon; if he stayed any longer, he risked missing his flight. He grabbed the handle of the suitcase and pulled it up. 

“Bye, Red,” he managed. “I… wish I could have stayed longer.” 

“Yeah, me too,” he answered, looking unbelievably sad. “Have a safe flight.” 

With that, he turned around and got back into the truck. Blue stayed there for a couple of seconds, before he forced himself to turn away and walk into the terminal. 

…

Generally, Blue liked airports. They were places of opportunity, where new beginnings were created. A mile of runway and an airplane could take you to any place on the globe, after all. 

Today, though, he dreaded getting onto the airplane and heading back to Kalos. The entire journey struck him as exhausting, and the whole prospect of it made him want to curl up in bed and go to sleep.

He wished he didn’t even have to make the flight, but of course, it was inevitable. Especially now that Red had dropped him off at the airport and he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Besides, what other option did he have? He couldn’t logically choose to stay here, with his career on the line. 

He only had to sit at the gate for about twenty minutes, enough time to catch his breath and question all of his life decisions up until this point, before the gate agent announced that boarding was about to begin. 

It started with military members, then first class. When she called for economy, he stood up and started to shuffle towards the entrance of the airplane with the rest of the economy passengers. 

Just then, someone called, “Wait!” 

Blue turned around immediately, shocked by the familiar voice. His initial thought was that he’d imagined it, but knew that he couldn’t have been when he saw Red behind him, out of breath, as if he’d just stopped running. 

“Red?” He asked, dumbly. “What are you doing here?” 

“Blue, please,” he gasped, not really answering the question. “You can’t go.” 

Now he was even more baffled. “Why not?” 

Red seemed to pause and consider this for as much time as it took him to catch his breath. His expression looked desperate, and his eyebrows twisted together over his troubled brown eyes. 

“Well… because…” He sucked in a breath. “We need you.  _ I _ need you. The truth is… I don’t think I can do this without you.” 

“Are you kidding?” asked Blue, incredulous. “You’ve been doing it for the past three years. What changed?” 

Red’s face tightened up in a mixture of despair and other emotions Blue just couldn’t decipher. “Well it’s...I mean…” he tried to say, stumbling over his words.

“I showed you the financial fix and gave you a solid plan for the future to prevent this from happening again,” Blue supplied, confused. “And you definitely know how to operationally handle everything, from fixing things to bartering good sales...I just don’t get it.”

“But...I don’t know how to be happy. Unless you’re with me.”

Blue’s heart felt like it slammed into a brick wall. “Wait, what?” he blurted.

Red’s face did something peculiar and turned the same color as his name, for probably the first time Blue ever saw it. “Look, I… well, I really like you, Blue,” he said, scratching his head and turning his eyes awkwardly to the something in the far right corner of the ceiling. “I was too nervous to tell Gramps or Daisy the truth but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you how I really felt.”

Blue’s mouth hung open so far for so long a Pidgey could have flown into it, made a nest, and laid a few eggs in it. 

Red suddenly turned awfully fidgety, perceiving Blue’s shocked silence in a bad way. “Sorry, I ah, didn’t mean to--you know what? Forget I said anything. Have a good flight Blue.”

He started to essentially sprint towards the stairs like a really angry herd of Khangaskan were stampeding towards him, but Blue’s body moved on its own accord and snatched him by the jacket. 

Even then Red tried to bolt, twisting himself like an Ekans in an attempt to slither out of his own heavy winter coat, obviously panicking. 

So Blue yanked on him hard, so fast he didn’t have a chance to flee, and caught him in an embrace around his strong, muscular shoulders. It was Red’s turn to feel like his heart hit something solid going ninety miles per hour, and his breath screeched to almost a complete stop. 

He inhaled once and froze, actually shaking from how nervous he felt.

“Red, I like you too,” Blue confessed. “A lot. I thought…there was no way you felt the same way.” 

Red took in a shuddering breath. “That’s great.” Seemingly calmed down a bit, he asked, “so… what now?”

Blue hesitated, glancing back at the gate indicator sign, showing his seat class was now boarding. “I guess...I need to get on that plane.”

“Well, you don’t  _ have _ to,” Red said, quickly, “And if it's your job you are worried about I really could use your help at the ranch. I made some plans to take it in a bigger direction a while back but I really could use some help to make it happen.”

“What’s your idea?” Blue asked, crossing his arms.

“Well, I want to start teaching trainers how to ride Ponyta and Tauros, and how to breed them. So giving private lessons. I asked around town and there are a lot of families interested. But I don’t know what to charge them or how to handle the taxes for that kind of thing. I figured… I could use someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

“And how much would something like that pay?” Blue asked critically.

Red smiled nervously. “Oh uh… crap, I was hoping you would just say yes.”

“You really want me to stay that badly?” Asked Blue, softly.

“Absolutely. I don’t want to keep doing this without you.”

Blue looked back to the gate, then to Red’s nervous looking eyes. Quickly, he came to a decision. 

“So we’d be partners?”

“Sure. Whatever it takes to get you to say yes.”

Blue smiled. “Well… I always wanted to plan my own retirement rather than rely on a pension... plus I would like to tell my boss to lick some ass. Deal.”

Red blinked, obviously shocked. “Wait. That actually worked?” 

“Just shut up before I change my mind,” Blue said. 

Rather than answer, Red leaned forward and planted a kiss on Blue’s lips, pulling him in close and drawing looks from everyone around them. Blue kissed him passionately back, figuring that if everyone was already watching, he might as well give them a show. 

The last call for boarding broke them apart. Both were gasping for breath, as if they’d just run a marathon. 

“Last chance,” Red said, “Are you sure this is what you want?” 

Blue nodded resolutely and took his hand, making a point not to look back again. “I’m sure,” he said. “Let’s go home.” 

And so, hand in hand, they walked into the future together.


End file.
